Courtney Mitchell

Biographical Description

Courtney Welton-Mitchell is the director of the Humanitarian Assistance Applied Research Group through the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (JKSIS) at the University of Denver. She is also a Research Associate with the Institute of Behavioral Science's Environment and Society program, Natural Hazards Center, at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is a current adjunct faculty at JKSIS, Humanitarian Assistance Program, and former faculty in the International Disaster Psychology M.A. program at the University of Denver (2010-2013), and the American University in Cairo. She has taught numerous graduate level courses on refugees, forced migration, GBV, and disaster mental health. Courtney has coauthored articles in the areas of international disaster psychology, mental health of refugees and other forced migrants, domestic violence, and trauma and memory. Her current international research interests include mental health integrated disaster preparedness for internally displaced in Nepal and Haiti, local idioms of distress and coping among populations in migratory transition, and evidence-based interventions for marginalized groups including sexual minorities, and victims of gender-based violence. Courtney has recently received research grants for 'health in humanitarian crisis' from DFID and Wellcome Trust, among others. Courtney received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology in 2012, holds two M.A. degrees, in social psychology and mental health counseling, and is a licensed clinician. Courtney worked for several years with U.N. and other humanitarian agencies with camp-based and urban refugees in Nepal, Tanzania, and Egypt before returning to the U.S. She continues to do consultancy work, including a global evaluation for UNHCR of mental health and psychosocial services for humanitarian aid workers (2012-2013), with data collection in Bangladesh and Pakistan.